Adding Up to Marriage
by TheShatteredRose
Summary: Yuffie has a fabulous idea to perk up people's interest in the restoration of Hollow Bastion. And it's marriage! Not just any marriage, though, but a marriage between Leon and Cloud! She has the perfect reasons why they should, too. ::Minor Leon/Cloud::


**Title:** Adding Up to Marriage

**Fandom:** Kingdom Hearts

**Summary:** Yuffie has a fabulous idea to perk up people's interest in the restoration of Hollow Bastion. And it's marriage! Not just any marriage, though, but a marriage between Leon and Cloud! She has the perfect reasons why they should, too.

**Pairing/s:** Hinted Leon/Cloud

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything with this series

**Warnings:** None

**AN:** Whew, my second Kingdom Hearts fic. Still trying to get a hang of this fandom. Anyway, please read and let me know what you think!

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The interest in the restoration of Radiant Gardens had waned over the last few weeks. Leon had noticed this. While he wasn't as involved with the residents as many others he could name, he could feel that those who lived on Hollow Bastion were becoming stuck in a rut.

And, to be perfectly blunt, he hadn't a clue what to do about it.

Aerith, Yuffie, Tifa, Merlin and Cid were concerned by the lack of interest as it meant the people were losing hope, losing faith in themselves and their beliefs that they could rebuild and repair for a better future for generations to come. It was a very real fear and if they ever did fall into a bit of despair, things won't get better.

"I take it you're no closer to finding an answer to return everyone's interest to the restoration?"

Leon sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand, while dropping the file onto his overloaded and messy desk in front of him with the other. Peering over to the blond leaning against the wall by the window, his arms folded over his chest, Leon could only offer a grunt as a reply.

Cloud had been pulled back to help them with coming up with ways to perk everyone's interest back into the restoration. Although, he often appeared baffled as to why they needed him for that. He was useful for work, Leon had to admit. He could be sullen and far too quiet (even for Leon himself) but he was a hard worker and once he set his mind to something, he would complete any task given to him.

Sometimes, though, with a steel resolve that was hazardous to his health. Leon had lost count the number of times he had to literally go fetch the blond and drag him home so Aerith could shovel some food down his throat.

Although it could be said it was the same number of times that Cloud had to drag him out of his office to eat something other than coffee or to get some sleep somewhere other than slumped over his desk.

"I take it you don't have any ideas either," Leon said to Cloud, the blond swordsman shaking his head in the negative.

Silence fell over the room, Leon going back to his paperwork and Cloud going back to…being Cloud.

"Leon!" a high-pitched and unfairly familiar voice suddenly rattled the windows. "LeonLeonLeonLeonLeonLeon!"

Leon resisted the urge to drop his head onto his desk and thought seriously about hiding under it, but knew it was pointless as he would be found anyway. It was a clear warning sign for extreme embarrassment to come whenever he heard Yuffie say his name multiple times without drawing a breath.

And from the wince he caught on Cloud's face, the skinny blond also knew her amazing ability to pull you into misadventures all too well.

It didn't make Leon feel any better when Cloud sent him a look of the utmost pity while calculating his own escape.

The door to his office flew open, slamming against the wall with such force that the top layer of paint cracked, sending flakes floating through the air. Dammit, he only just fixed the last time Yuffie made a dramatic entrance.

"LEON!" Yuffie bellowed into the room. For someone quite small and skinny, she had some lungs on her.

"I'm right _here_," Leon muttered darkly as he rubbed his face harshly with his hand. "There's no need to yell."

Yuffie ignored him, as usual. Instead she skipped into the room, waving a wad of papers in her hand with a sense of triumph and urgency. "Oh, hey Cloud. Good you're here, too," she said quickly before turning to look at Leon again. "I've got it!"

"Got what?"

"The perfect plan to perk everyone's interest!"

Unadulterated cynicism filled Leon's being and he gave the ninja a bland look. Cloud, however, looked somewhat interested, in a masochistic sense probably, as to what Yuffie's suggestion could be. Leon sent him a glare and could have sworn the corner of Cloud's mouth twitched, threatening to turn into a smirk.

"A wedding!"

An ever familiar silence reigned as Leon deadpanned and Cloud tilted his head to the side in question.

"…And how is that supposed to gain everyone's interest in the restoration of Radiant Garden?" Leon asked slowly.

"Oh, come on!" Yuffie grinned widely. "Everyone loves a wedding. Everyone will be in such high spirits that they'll want to fix Hollow Bastion in preparation for the wedding!"

For some unknown reason that explanation sounded somewhat…plausible. Well, from Yuffie's standards, at least. She had given far more…unfeasible explanations in the past, so it was somewhat unnerving to hear such a reasonable reason.

"It can't just be any wedding, though," Yuffie continued to prattle. "It has to be special, unique, something that has never, ever happened before."

Leon felt himself tensing. He knew it wasn't going to be as simple as a wedding. And the look of cheerful mischievousness on Yuffie's face only made Leon break out in a cold sweat. Even noticing Cloud wincing and studying the window for a possible escape route from the corner of his eye didn't ease his dread.

"Congratulations~!" she suddenly beamed. "You guys are getting married!"

Leon and Cloud looked at her with identical expressions of complete and utter disbelief.

"…To who?" Cloud eventually asked.

To which, Yuffie laughed. "To each other, duh!"

Leon didn't want to just hit his head on his desk. He wanted to slam his forehead repeatedly on the hard surface.

"And why should we do that?"

"Getting married means that you found the one for you," Yuffie stated as she nodded her head sagely, her arms folded over her chest in a serious manner. "Knowing that will make people happy. And when people are happy, they take pride in their surroundings and appearances."

Again, she sounded reasonable.

Not a good sign…

Cloud arched an eyebrow. "What makes you think that we're 'the one' for each other?"

"Ah, well," Yuffie muttered as she unfolded her arms to instead fold them behind her back as she shuffled her feet. "There are worse choices?"

…Yes. Yes there was.

"Why should _we_ get married?" Leon asked her.

"You mean other than to complete the restoration of Radiant Garden?" Yuffie in turn asked him, her nose wrinkled with disapproval when Leon simply nodded his head. "There are tonnes of reasons why getting married is a good idea."

Leon was about to shake his head and tell the ninja girl in no uncertain terms that he wasn't interested, when he heard Cloud ask that dreaded question.

"For example?"

"Marriage makes you live longer," Yuffie stated with utter conviction.

Leon and Cloud shared a quick look, Cloud raising a delicate eyebrow while Leon granted him a short and sharp one shoulder shrug. They both turned their attention back to the bouncy, bubbly ninja.

"So…" Leon was almost hesitant to ask. "How long is…longer?"

Yuffie stopped bouncing on her feet and her nose crinkled, appearing as though she was deep in thought. "I dunno," she replied after a moment. "As old as Merlin?"

…That _was_ a long time.

"I didn't know that Merlin was married…" Cloud muttered in a deadpan voice and Leon coughed into his hand to hide a small smirk.

Undaunted, Yuffie flipped through the stack of paper she was holding. She probably had anticipated objection from the two, so she came prepared with numerous examples. "Marriage gives you a platform to build your bloodline on."

"…Yuffie," Cloud said slowly. "We're both men."

Yuffie flapped her hand dismissively at him. "Details," she muttered before pointing out another sample. "Marriage prevents you from dying alone."

"And what do you mean by that?" Leon found himself asking.

"Well, you two ain't getting any younger," she immediately replied. "Your youth isn't going to last forever. How's being single going to work out for you when you're, like, 60 or something? When you have hair in all of the wrong places and no one can stand to look at you? Marriage is an investment in your future."

Wow. She really did come prepared, didn't she?

"Marriage makes you more attractive," Yuffie said as she sighed as she lifted her gaze from her research to look dreamily into empty space. "Every women knows that a married man is incredibly hot. Imagine two together in one relationship?"

All Leon could do was shake his head in mild bemusement. "…I didn't realise you were into that sort of thing…"

She quickly snapped out of her daydreams to give another example. "Marriage means you have more sex!"

Leon chose the wrong time to take a sip of his coffee. And to make matter worst, he spate it all over his working documents, staining them a light brownish colour, smearing it as he tried to hastily wipe it up as he cough and spluttered. Cloud's _helpful_ slap on the back to help him breath wasn't appreciated much either.

"Yeah, and it's better sex, too!" Yuffie added in a helpful tone.

Just where was she getting these prime examples from? Leon hoped that she found them in a book or magazine somewhere, because if they came from her own mind…

He didn't want to think about it.

"Stop," Leon ordered, holding up his hand in a motion for Yuffie to be quiet for once in her life. "No more. That's enough."

Instead of being disappointed, like Leon had expected (and secretly hoped), she looked pleased. "See! Plenty of reasons why you should get married. Now, I need to tell Aerith and Tifa. Bye!"

"Wait-a-minute!" Leon called out to her, but in a flash, she was gone, skidded out of his office with almost inhuman speed to, no doubt, completely ruin his life. Something, it seemed to Leon, she enjoyed doing.

And was getting good at.

For the umpteenth time that afternoon, Leon sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, slumping in his chair. He was screwed. Once Aerith and Tifa get wind of this, who knows what could happen. Women were a force to be reckoned with alone. Mix women with weddings and they were nothing short of ruthless, whether they were planning their own wedding or someone else's.

One way or another he and Cloud were going to get married. Even if the girls had to get Merlin to help them.

Cloud looked fidgety as he focused those blue eyes of his on Leon. "You don't think she knows about…you know…?"

"About us secretly dating each other and sleeping in each other's beds behind their backs?" Leon helpfully provided for him, summing up their connection in one brief sentence.

The blush was quite vivid against Cloud's pale cheeks and Leon smiled to himself. Cloud was a couple of years older than he was, but he was unfairly cute. And he didn't have a clue how adorable he could be. And Leon wouldn't tell him. He valued his limbs too much to do that.

And the thought that Yuffie might know or suspect something was plausible. She was a ninja, after all. And a women. She had that women's intuition or something, that thing that Aerith had.

"I'm not getting married to you," Cloud stated suddenly, yet firmly as he moved toward the door with quick and jerky movements, no doubt making his escape before Yuffie came back with reinforcements. "I mean, you haven't gotten me a ring yet."

He then hastily swept out the door, leaving a surprised Leon behind. Leon blinked and shook his head, taking a moment to allow Cloud's parting words to seep into his head. Then, he smirked to himself.

So, Cloud wanted a ring, huh?

Well well, that was the first time he actually said what he really wanted. Perhaps this 'arranged marriage' between the two of them will have some benefits for them as well.

If they survive the wedding, of course.

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**AN:** Oh god, this was so much fun to write :3 I hope you enjoyed reading. Please comment!


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